A still from Chamkila. (courtesy: ParineetiChopra)
Imtiaz Ali is basking in all the love and appreciation coming his way for his latest directorial project Amar Singh Chamkila. The film is based on the life of the eponymous musician and his second wife Amarjot Kaur, their meteoric rise as singers and their tragic murders. The film explores Amar Singh Chamkila's personal and professional choices and for this reason, Imitiaz Ali shared that he was nervous when Chamkila's first wife Gurmail Kaur attended the screening of the film. Stressing that there was no attempt to “whitewash” the late singer's life, Imitiaz Ali told ZoomTV: “Chamkila's family was at the screening. His first wife Gurmail Kaur was there. Amarjot and Chamkila's son Jaiman Chamkila was there. Chamkila's daughters [from his first marriage] were also there. When we were watching the film, his first wife was sitting right next to me and I was thinking that there are some sensitive scenes in the film, should I just pull back or go back before she attacks me. But when the screening got over, she hugged me and everybody was so happy with the way that Chamkila was portrayed because we were hoping that they would like it.”
In a video posted by Diljit Dosanjh, Gurmail Kaur is seen giving Diljit (who plays the titular character) a warm hug. Parineeti Chopra is seen as Amarjot Kaur in the film.
Stressing that his attempt was always to portray Chamkila's character as the singer was, Imtiaz Ali added: “I have not whitewashed Chamkila because that was the point of making the film. He has done a lot of things that can be judged but I let it be like that in the film and it's actually credit to the family that they understood it. They knew that it's factual and they did not stop me in any way.”
Recently, an interview of Gurmail Kaur about her late husband Amarjot has surfaced online. Speaking to Love Punjab, Gurmail said, “Ek-do dinaa baad Chamkila kalla vee aunda si. Ohnu (Amarjot) eke nai si naal aanda… kalla aanda see. Oh vee aa jandi si. Bali gal ki si. Mai rotia pakaun lag jandi si, oh (Amarjot Kaur) sabzi bana lendi si. Ja oh kehndi hundi, ‘Mainu sabzi nai banani aandi, mai roti lalu.' Ohnu rotia vee nai c aandia. Rotia nu taa othe rasoiaa rakhya hoya si. Mai keha tu beh hi jaa, maai ape sara kuch karlu. [Chamkila used to visit after one or two days. He did not bring Amarjot along. Sometimes, she used to come. What was there to fuss about? I would start preparing rotis, she would prepare the sabji. There were times when she used to say, ‘I don't know how to cook a sabji, can I make rotis.' But she wasn't good with rotis either. Their cook used to prepare food for them. I told her to just sit, I could do everything myself.]"
About her equation with Amarjot Kaur, Gurmail Kaur said: “Ghar aaye bande nu ta balauna hi penda. Chal koi na, bula lendi si mai ta apne gharwale karke. Sara kuch dekhna painda si. [When someone visits your home, you have to talk to them. I used to talk to her for the sake of my husband.]”
In the film, it's portrayed that Amar Singh Chamkila didn't divorce his first wife before marrying Amarjot Kaur and continued to support Gurmail Kaur and her children financially.
Amar Singh Chamkila is available for streaming on Netflix.